Roof structure for railway cars



Sept. 27, 1960 J. w. ALLEN ROOF STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY CAR Original Filed Oct. 1, 1956 INVENTOR. Jo/zrz Wade/Z, BY

Unite States Patent f fiice ROOF STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY CARS John W. Allen, La Grange, Ill., assignor to Stanray Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Continuation of application Ser. No. 613,216, Oct. 1, 1956629 This application Aug. 14, 1959, Ser. No. 833,

8 Claims. (Cl. 105-404) This application is a continuation of my copending application, Serial No. 613,216, filed October 1, 1956, new abandoned.

This invention relates to the structure of railway car roofs, particularly at the eaves thereof, and is especially concerned with the meeting margins of the roof sheets and the side sheathing being formed so that they cooperate in a manner to avoid the necessity of the usual side plates for such cars.

It will be obvious, too, that this structure may be advantageously employed in other metallic structures where relatively strong structural conditions are desirable at the eaves area.

The principal object of the invention is to provide roof and side portions of an enclosure wherein the meeting margins are integrally formed so that one cooperates with the other to provide a hollow box section at the eaves of ample strength so that the usual side plate provided for cars or other metallic structures may be eliminated at great savings in weight, amount of welding, and riveting.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a railway car roof embodying my improved design.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figures 4 and 5 are views similar to Figure 3 but of modified forms of the invention.

Figure 6 is a view of another modified form of the invention.

In the drawings, which illustrate the invention as applied to a railway car roof, the car roof sheets are shown as extending from caves to caves of the roof and arched to provide a ridge portion tranversely at the center of each sheet, so that, when all sheets are applied, the ridge portions aline and form a continuous ridge extending longitudinally along the center of the roof from end to end of the car.

Each of the intermediate sheets 10 are provided with a pair of upwardly pressed embossments 11 which extend from substantially end to end of the roof sheet. The end roof sheets 12, however, are each provided with but one embossment 13, similar in all respects to the embossments 11. The end roof sheets have but one embossment each, so that the Width of said end sheets may be varied to provide a composite car roof of a certain length. Running board saddles 14, of any desired form are attached to said embossments to support the running board 15 at the proper height above the roof.

The invention is particularly concerned with conditions at the caves of the car, and in Figure 3 it will be noted that the end margin of the roof sheet extends over the upper edge of the side sheathing 16 a short distance as at 17, and is then turned downwardly as at 18, and

edge welded thereto as at 20. The upper edge of the sheathing 16 extends to the roof sheet 10 and is edge welded thereto as at 21 so that the channel-like formation 171819 of the outerma'rgin of the roof sheets and the included portion of the upper margin of the side sheathing 16 form a hollow box section, adding greatly to the strength of the eaves portion of the roof, eliminating the necessity for the rolled metal side plate section ordinarily employed in such structures.

The car underframe, not shown, is of ordinary construction and is provided with a side sill which supports the lower end of a plurality of spaced side posts, the upper end of one of which is indicated at 22. These posts extend vertically, and each comprises a channel section having laterally extending flanges which are Welded to the outer surface of the sheathing 16. The posts extend upward to and are secured to the flange 19 and are included within the bounding vertical planes of said flange.

In Figure 4, the same result is obtained but by a different means. In this view the roof sheet is shown at 39 which extends to the vertical plane of the side sheathing 31, and is turned downwardly in said plane as at 32. The side sheathing extends upwardly to the lower edge of the portion 32'of the roof sheets, is then turned outwardly a short distance as at 33, thence upwardly as at 34 parallel with portion 32, and thence inwardly as at 35 in the plane of and to the roof sheet 30 to which it is edge welded as at 36. Thus the channel-like formation 333435 integrally formed with the side sheathing 31, together with the included portion 32 of the roof sheet 39, form a hollow box section similar in effect to that shown in Figure 3.

In Figure 5 a further modification of the invention is shown wherein the roof sheet 40 extends over the upper edge of the side sheet 41 and is then turned downwardly and outwardly as at 42 and thence inwardly as at 43 to the side sheathing 41 to which it is welded as at 44. The upper edge of the side sheathing 41 is welded as at 45 to the roof sheet 40. With this formation of the outer margin of the roof sheet, the portions 42 and 43, together with the included portion of the upper margin of the side sheathing 41, form a triangular box section which has suflicient strength at the eaves to replace the usual rolled metal side plate used in such structures. One slight advantage of a triangular box section over the rectangular forms of the other two views is that a triangular section. cannot collapse without at least one of its sides failing.

In Figure 6 another modification of the invention is shown wherein the side sheathing 51 is turned laterally inwardly as at 52 and then upwardly as at 53 to the under side of the roof sheet 54 and to which it is welded as at 55. The roof sheets 54 extend over the upper edge of vertical portion '53 to the plane of the outer sheathing 51 and are then turned downwardly forming a flange 56 which overlaps the side sheathing 51 somewhat and' welded together as shown, they form a hollow box section at the eaves providing the required strength at that area of the roof and side.

What is claimed is:

l. A roof and side wall structure for a railway car, having longitudinally spaced vertically disposed side wall posts extending to a common plane at the eaves of the car, a roof structure for said car comprising roof sheets extending from side to side of said car, side wall sheathing secured to said side posts extending upwardly to and secured along its upper edge to said roof structure spaced from the outer edge of said roof structure, and hollow box section means securing the roof structure and side wall Patented Sept. 27, 1950 3. sheathing together, said box section means being formed solely by the adjacent margins of the roof structure and the side sheathing each being formed into an approximate half of said box section and secured together so that each margin conjointly forms part of said hollow box section, said box section means having a substantially horizontal portion resting upon and secured to the tops of said spaced side posts.

2. In a railway car having a roof structure and side wall structure, said roof structure comprising a plurality of substantially horizontally disposed sheets extending from side to side of said car and secured along meeting side edges to form a composite roof, said side wall structure comprising vertically disposed side wall sheathing at opposite sides of the car extending to the eaves margin of the roof, said side wall structure being secured along its upper edge to said roof structure along a line spaced inwardly from the edge of said eaves margin, hollow box section means securing said roof structure and side wall structure together, said hollow box section comprising solely the eaves margin of said roof structure extending beyond the upper edge of the wall structure, thence outwardly and downwardly and to said side wall structure below the supper edge thereof, the edge of said roof structure being secured to the margin of said side wall structure along a line spaced from the upper edge of said side wall structure to thereby form said hollow box section, part of said section being integral with said roof margin and part of said section being integral with the adjacent margin of said side sheathing.

3. In a railway car having a roof structure and side wall structure and spaced vertically disposed side wall posts extending to a common plane at the eaves of the car, said roof structure comprising roof sheets extending from Side to side of said car, said side wall structure comprising side sheathing secured to said side posts and extending upwardly above the upper ends of said side posts to and secured along its upper edge to said roof structure inwardly from the edge thereof, and hollow box section means securing the roof structure and wall sheathing together, said box section being formed solely by the outer margin of the roof structure extending beyond the upper edge of said side wall sheathing, thence outwardly, downwardly to the plane of the tops of said side posts and inwardly upon and secured to the tops of said posts to and secured along its edge to said sheathing to thereby include a portion of said sheathing and form therewith said hollow box section resting upon and secured to the tops of said spaced side posts.

4. A roof structure and a side wall structure for a railway car, said roof structure comprising roof sheets extending from side to side of said car, said side wall structure comprising side wall sheathing at opposite sides of the car and extending upwardly to the eaves margin of the roof structure, and hollow box section means securing the roof structure and wall sheathing together, said hollow box section means being formed solely by adjacent margins of the roof structure and wall sheathing each being shaped into an approximate half of said hollow box section and the edges of each margin being secured to the other margin along a line spaced from the edge of said other margin so that each margin and the included portion of the other margin are spaced and conjointly form said hollow box section.

5. A roof and side wall structure for a railway car having spaced vertically disposed side wall posts extending to a common plane at the caves of the car, said roof structure comprising roof sheets extending from side to side of said oar, said side wall structure comprising side wall sheathing at opposite sides of the car secured to said posts and extending upwardly to the eaves margin of the roof structure, and hollow box section means securing the roof structure and wall sheathing together, said hollow box section means comprising the upper margin of said wall sheathing being turned over the tops of said side posts and thence upwardly to and secured along its upper edge to said roof structure along a line spaced from the edge thereof, the outer margins of the roof structure extending over and beyond the upper edge of the wall sheathing and being turned downwardly to and secured along its edge to said side wall sheathing below the upper edge thereof, the margins being spaced from each other, thereby forming said hollow box section means.

6. A roof structure and a side wall structure for a railway car, said roof structure comprising roof sheets extending from side to side of said car, said side wall structure comprising side sheathing having an upper margin extending to the eaves margin of the roof sheets inwardly from the edge of said roof sheets, and hollow box section means securing the roof structure and wall structure together, said hollow box section means being formed solely by each margin being secured to the other margin along two spaced substantially parallel lines, each margin between said parallel lines being formed into an approximately half of said box section to thereby conjointly form said hollow box section means.

7. A roof structure and a side wall structure for a rail way car said roof structure comprising roof sheets extending from side to side of said car, said side wall structure comprising side sheathing having an upper margin extending to the eaves margin of the roof sheets, and hollow box section means securing the roof sheets and wall sheathing together, said eaves margin and said upper margin each being formed into an approximate half of said hollow box section, the edge of each margin being secured to the other margin along a line spaced from the edge of said other margin, whereby the approximate halves of said box section conjointly form said hollow box section means.

8. A roof structure and a side wall structure for a railway oar, said roof structure comprising roof sheets extending from side to side of said car, said side wall structure comprising side sheathing having a margin extending upwardly to the eaves margin of the proof sheets, and hollow box section means securing the roof sheets and wall sheathing together, the meeting margins of said side wall structure and said roof structure each being formed into an approximate half of said hollow box section means, the edge of the side sheathing being secured to the margin of the roof sheets along a line spaced from the edge of the roof sheets, and the edge of the roof sheets being secured to the margin of the side sheathing along a line spaced from the edge of the side sheathing, the included portion of each margin being spaced from the included portion of the other margin so as to conjointly form the said hollow box section means.

No references cited. 

